Suzie01

I am 36 years old and live in Essex in England, United Kingdom ... not too far from the bright lights of London. I was born in Northern Ireland, and lived in Durban, South Africa from the age of 4 to 20, so have travelled a little! I've been married to Dave for almost 7 years. Together we have a 9 year old daughter and a 6 year old son. I work 23 hours a week (over two days) as a staff nurse in a busy ITU/HDU. I was a mature student and qualified in January 2006. I have also worked as a secretary and a waitress. In real life I am shy and quiet, and people often mistake this for snobbery! Really, I am no snob! Hobbies include photography (I use a Nikon D40x), scrapbooking, altering, reading, geocaching ...

I love a wide range of music ... I listen to anything from Andrea Bocelli to the White Stripes. Favourites include Edie Brickell, Amy Winehouse, The Ramones, The Hives, U2, Kaiser Chiefs, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan (early stuff)Pearl Jam, Beck, Violent Femmes ... also musicals, my favourite being Les Miserables. I love going to live gigs, although don't get to go as often now we have kids.

Reading is a great hobby of mine! I love contemporary fiction and will try anything! Favourite authors include Patricia Cornwell (early books!) Tess Gerritsen, Jodi Picoult, Dorothy Koomson, Kate Mosse ... too many to name really! Not massively into sci-fi, but do love the Harry Potter books. My favourite book of all time is Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy and The Time Traveler's Wife comes a pretty close second.

Movies ... hmm, since children we don't really get to see as many as we'd like! The last movie I saw was Juno, which I hugely enjoyed! Other favourites include Amelie, Breakfast Club, The Big Lebowski, Pretty in Pink, Life is Beautiful, Little Miss Sunshine, Roseanna's Grave, Dead Poet's Society, Singles, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Reality Bites, A Knight's Tale, The Outsiders and Grease. I like chick flicks, action movies, thrillers, scary movies ...

I don't watch a whole lot of TV ... but am embarrassed to say I am a reality TV junkie! I love watching American Idol, X-Factor, Britain's Got Talent, Strictly Come Dancing. I do have a laugh at Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Scrapbooking - I tend to go for a neat graphic style, no matter how much I try to do the messy freestyle scrapping, it just doesn't work for me (though how I wish it would!). Favourite manufacturers include Basic Grey, Sassafrass Lass, American Crafts. Not keen on vintagey type things in scrapbooking, but like 'shabby chic'. I also enjoy making ATCs, altered art, playing with alcohol inks and distress inks - I love Tim Holtz! Would love to get more 'arty' and have recently started an art journal, which isn't going as well as I'd hoped! I love using ribbons, buttons, chipboard, inks on my layouts and am addicted to alphas!!

A work in progress! I will add as things come to mind.

• anything pink and black
• Sharpie pens! Difficult to get in the UK
• textured arty stuff (though I'm not much good at making it myself)
• Converse sneakers, or anything 'Converse' related
• tulips
• cupcakes
• gadgets
• postcards - vintage or contemporary
• USA - would love to travel through all of it
• more specifically, New York City
• nature
• mountains
• creative writing, though I don't get much time for this any more
• lipbalm
• South African/tribal African stuff
• momiji dolls
• thunderstorms - I mean big, scary ones, not the piddly UK "thunderstorms" with one crack of thunder and single flash of lightning!
• Christmas
• badges - you know, band badges, or slogans, or just plain old funky badges!
• Big Red gum
• other sugar free gum
• American candies (but not Hersheys chocolate)
• cherry coke
• cherry pie
• cherry ice-cream
• cherries
• hmm, ok then, anything with cherries in it or on it!
• I like tea and coffee
• chocolate
• having my eyes opened to new stuff! :)
• I love making dotee dolls, but don't have a whole of fabric, so would always be happy to receive fabric scraps!

Again, this is a work in progres ...

• 'novelty' shaped brads
• eyelets in any shape or form!
• pastel colours
• guns
• violence
• religion - no offence, but I feel beliefs are very personal
• perfume/makeup (with the exception of lip balm) I have sensitive skin and have to be careful with what I use
• neon/bright primary colours

A list of things I don't know a lot about, but would like to investigate!

• dotee dolls--- have now investigated and am addicted!
• kawaii
• burlesque
• wicca